Skip to main contentA man who ripped the throat out of a live rabbit with his teeth and the woman who photographed the gruesome act were convicted of aggravated animal abuse by a Multnomah County jury last week but dodged the more serious charge of animal torture.
Darcy Lee Olson, a 34-year-old performance-art "wrestler" who went by the stage name "Heathen," bought the rabbit in September 2001, intending to feed it to his pet boa constrictor. But when the snake wouldn't eat it, an inspired Olson decided to decapitate the bunny himself while his friend Angela Lyn Moss snapped pictures, with plans to toss the photos to fans at a future wrestling event (see Rogue of the Week, WW, Aug. 28, 2002).
The long ears of the law caught up with the duo in July after an alarmed Fuji film employee caught a glimpse of the 40 photographs Moss had brought in for developing, which depicted a visibly intoxicated Olson smearing blood on his genitals and shoving the headless rabbit carcass down his pants.
At the trial, Deputy District Attorney Ethan Knight claimed that the animal screamed in agony as Olson bit it. A veterinarian told the jury that rabbits only scream if they are in mortal pain.
But Olson testified that he had snapped the rabbit's neck using approved feeder-rabbit techniques before savaging it for the camera.
Knight, whose office has received 400 letters from citizens outraged by the crime, will ask Circuit Judge Marshall Amiton to give the gruesome twosome jail time. Because aggravated animal abuse is a Class C felony, they could get as much as five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. "In all likelihood, it will be no more than six months, though," says Knight.
Local animal-rights activist Connie Haws thinks that's less time than they deserve, but she's still glad to see them facing the music for their grisly deed. "I think that 18 months would be more appropriate," says Haws, who attended the entire trial. "We're just very happy to see them convicted."
Olson and Moss will undergo a psychological evaluation before their March 10 sentencing.
WWeek 2015